Pilgrimages are familiar to many of us from The Canterbury Tales or The Pilgrim’s Progress. In both of these classics of Western literature pilgrimages feature prominently. You might remember that Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories represented as part of story-telling contest between a group of pilgrims journeying to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize being a free meal at the Tabard Inn in Southwark on the return journey. The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory about the life of a protagonist named “Christian” whose journey through the story represents the pilgrimage or journey that is the life of the Christian.
The WCC 2013 Busan assembly invited Christians and people of good will everywhere to join in a pilgrimage of justice and peace. The WCC Central Committee calls all people to engage their God-given gifts in transforming actions, together.
Statement towards a nuclear free world, adopted as part of the Report of the Public Issues Committee by the World Council of Churches Central Committee.
Jointly prepared by the National Council of Churches in Korea and the Korean Christian Federation, this prayer is used on the Sunday just before 15 August.
In order to carry forward the spiritual accompaniment of the Korean peninsula and the churches of North and South Korea the WCC is invited to join the Christians of North and South Korea in a joint moment of prayer.
Surrounded and embraced by representatives of the wider international ecumenical community within this consultation of 54 participants representing 34 churches and related organizations from 15 countries, delegations led by the leadership of both the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) from the Republic of Korea (ROK), met at the Chateau de Bossey, Switzerland, on 17-19 June 2014.
WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit’s letter of condolences for the victims of South Korea ferry disaster. The letter was sent to the National Council of Churches in Korea and the WCC member churches in the Republic of Korea, on 23 April 2014.
The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit addressed the theme “Free to speak, believe and serve” on 4 April at the Synod of the Church of Norway, held in conjunction with the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution. The anniversary represents an important milestone for Norway as a nation and for the Church of Norway.
WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit's speech during his audience with Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, Rome, on 7 March 2014.
The WCC Executive Committee, currently meeting in Switzerland, is working to translate the mandate of the WCC 10th Assembly into strategic plans and visible actions, focusing on the churches’ efforts toward a “pilgrimage for justice and peace”.
“We have found reasons to hope for the re-development of the Ecumenical Centre and its surrounding property in ways that will be beneficial to the work of WCC, to tenants in this location, to the community in Grand-Saconnex and to the vision for the international zone as a Jardin des Nations,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in his welcoming remarks at the award ceremony for the winning design for the development of the Ecumenical Centre and WCC offices as well as runner-up projects.
“Join the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace” is the title of the Message of the WCC 10th Assembly. The assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, was convened on 30 October and drew to a close on 8 November 2013. An assembly, the highest governing body of the WCC, is held once every seven to eight years to endorse policies, review projects and point the future direction of the organization.
